Two recent developments in science could leave us asking the
question, “What does it mean to be human?” First, the October 19 edition of the
journal Nature reports on a remarkable computer program that taught itself how to play the ancient game called Go.
Programmers set up the algorithms which included the structure and rules of the
game and then turned the Artificial Intelligence (AI) program loose on playing
the game against itself. In a matter of days, the computer had become skilled
enough to beat human champions and other computers. This is unique because all
previous AI programs have learned the game by studying the moves of expert
human players. AlphaGo Zero, as this latest program is called, achieved mastery
of the game without human training. The implications of this program go far
beyond the world of gaming. Might we one day be able to give an algorithm a
list of circumstances and resources and set it off to find the best solutions
to complex mathematical, engineering, and biological health questions? Might
artificial intelligences one day solve such problems as how to build a better
airplane, how to solve famine in places of high need, how to understand gravity
and its complex relationship with time and space, or might AIs one day give us
world-wide peace?
in a minute; now let’s turn to another remarkable report from the October 5
edition of the journal Science. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute have discovered that “about 1.8 to 2.6 percent of DNA in non-Africans is from … ancient human-Neandertal interbreeding.” That is approximately “10 to 20 percent more
Neandertal ancestry” than previously estimated. The researchers went on to discuss
human behavior and health risks which may be mediated by this significant
amount of Neanderthal (NT) DNA.
number of ways; however, today, I would like to focus on the one question
disclosed in the title of this article: “What makes humans human?” If
artificial intelligence programs can, “on their own,” learn to play human games
and master them better than the best human players, and if we humans of
European descent are an interesting admixture of human and non-human (Neanderthal)
DNA, what is it that truly sets us apart as human?
consider ethical questions of the future. Are AI programs conscious? What
happens when we turn off or destroy AI hardware? If humans add to or subtract
from DNA in the human genome using CRISPR technology, are the resulting humans
still human? What if we were to add animal DNA or plant DNA to the human
genome? How far would we have to go before people began to question the
humanity of the resulting persons?
discussed, argued about, and looked for answers to questions about the nature
of the Imago Dei, the image of God in humans. Science starts with pieces of
scientific data and assumptions about the limits of human understanding relying
only on empirical data. Philosophers allow for the influence of ideas beyond
scientific datum that flow out of the consciousness of humans. Theologians
welcome scientific, philosophic, and revelatory information and believe that God
speaks through the book of Nature and the book of the Bible.
learn more and more about the nature of our humanity, it will be important to
remember the ancient words of God found in the Bible. Christians and
theologians will certainly wish to make this a starting point for any
discussions on the nature of humanity:
So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27 (NLT)
of humanity seem unstable, these words provide an anchor point for the
discussions to come.